In this Oct. 27, 2020, file photo, a young passenger pulls his bag as he walks through Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
By Mike Stobbe and Heather Hollingsworth
With the coronavirus surging out of control, the nation’s top public health agency pleaded with Americans on Thursday not to travel for Thanksgiving and not to spend the holiday with people from outside their household.
It was some of the firmest guidance yet from the government on curtailing traditional gatherings to fight the outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the recommendations just one week before Thanksgiving, at a time when diagnosed infections, hospitalizations and deaths are skyrocketing across the country. In many areas, the health care system is being squeezed by a combination of sick patients filling up beds and medical workers falling ill themselves.
The CDC’s Dr. Erin Sauber-Schatz cited more than 1 million new cases in the U.S. over the past week as the reason for the new guidance
“The safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving this year is at home with the people in your household,” she said.
If families do decide to include returning college students, military members or others for turkey and stuffing, the CDC is recommending that the hosts take added precautions: Gatherings should be outdoors if possible, with people keeping 6 feet apart and wearing masks and just one person serving the food.
Where Americans heed the warning is another matter. The deadly comeback by the virus has been blamed in part on pandemic fatigue, or people getting tired of masks and other precautions. And surges were seen last summer after Memorial Day and July, despite blunt warnings from health authorities.
The United States has seen more than 11 million diagnosed infections and over 250,000 deaths from the coronavirus. CDC scientists believe that somewhere around 40% of people who are infected do not have obvious symptoms but can still spread the virus.
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Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
Jason Moser, Senior Analyst at The Motley Fool, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to talk about the big takeaways from Disney's Q1 report, which showed the company nearing 130 million Disney+ subscribers as parks revenue ticks up.
Shares of Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth surged after the company reported Q3 earnings Wednesday morning, with shares up more than 15 percent at the close of the day's trading session. Despite net revenue declining year-over-year, Canopy beat analyst expectations and has ramped up efforts to develop a "THC ecosystem' in the U.S. Canopy Growth's CEO, David Klein, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the report. He noted that its brands Storz & Bickel vaporizers and BioSteel beverages showed record growth.
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PLAY, a low-cost airline headquartered in Iceland, is expanding service to New York Stewart International Airport, marking its third destination in the United States. PLAY is the latest affordable carrier to fly onto the scene, debuting its first flights a little more than six months ago. Birgir Jonsson, CEO of PLAY, joined Cheddar to discuss what this expansion means for the airline and what it's been like to lead a new airline during a pandemic. "For us to get into the market now, have the availability of great, brand new aircraft at historically low prices, and basically being able to secure a low operating cost base for the future is a completely rare opportunity," Jonsson said. "We can get into the market now when our competitors are also weak."
